Irish revel in tasty Alabama slammer

December 08, 2006|TOM NOIE Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Nodding his head and smiling for all to see as he walked in circles, Notre Dame senior Russell Carter even stuck out his tongue before heading to the bench during a late break in Thursday's game against No. 4 Alabama. Looking to beat ranked teams in consecutive games for the first time since 2002-03, the Irish received a career-high 27 points from Carter and plenty of help from others in a 99-85 victory at the Joyce Center. It was Notre Dame's first victory over such a highly-ranked team since beating then-No. 4 Boston College late in 2004-05. The season high for points also marked the fifth time the Irish (7-1) have scored at least 90 points. Rattled by a 7-0 Tide spurt and up by only 3, 85-82, with 3:03 left, Carter calmed everyone down with a key 3 from the wing. He then followed with a long two in front of the Irish bench, and nearly ran coach Mike Brey down heading the other way. Luke Harangody then secured a steal, rumbled down the floor and hit a lay-up and was fouled to make it 93-82 with 1:56 left. In essence, it was all over but the rushing of the floor for the student body. Irish fans were cautiously optimistic about their team's chances as the game reached its late stages, but felt even better when Carter, whose 3 had bounced high off the rim and out a possession earlier, played the passing lane to perfection, stole a Tide pass and raced down the floor, finishing with a one-handed windmill slam to make it 82-73. Senior Colin Falls scored 20 points. Sophomore Kyle McAlarney added a career-high 20 points. His jumper with five minutes to go pushed the Irish lead into double digits -- 85-75 -- for the first time. Capitalizing on Irish uncertainty, turnovers and fouls, the Tide rolled back with seven unanswered. Notre Dame was out-rebounded for the first time this season 44-32. Alabama came to town having not allowed an opponent to score more than 65 points this season, a mark the Irish passed with 13 minutes still left. Trailing by four with just over 14 minutes remaining, the Irish were in need of a spark, and received it from Harangody. The freshman's steal and drive all the way from the opposite foul line sliced the Tide advantage in half before Carter unloaded another long 3. McAlarney then got going, hitting a 3 from the top of the key and a floater from the right of the lane to make it 72-66 with 11:55 left. Another McAlarney 3 and four points from Rob Kurz allowed the Irish to hold the six-point advantage with less than eight minutes to go. Notre Dame scored six points in less than two minutes to start the second half. That opened a four-point lead, its largest of the night to that point. A 6-0 run in 1:24 led by Mykal Riley's four points pushed Alabama back in front before Carter sailed in from the left and followed a Kurz miss with a two-hand dunk. Carter then was then slow to stop Alonzo Gee on the other end, who cut back door and finished with a two-hand dunk of his own and a Carter foul to make it 60-57 Tide. Gee then dropped back a rebound bucket and cut backdoor for another hoop and Falls foul to make it 64-62. Richard Hendrix snared Gee's missed free throw to put 'Bama up four. The week had started on a promising note for Notre Dame, which beat No. 23 Maryland in the BB&T Class in Washington. Notre Dame trailed by as many as eight in the first half, where they allowed a season-high for points with 49. But the Irish charged off the floor, raising their arms to the student section, all fired up after scoring the period's final four points to force a 49-all tie at intermission. The Irish received big-time contributions from their two seniors, Carter and Falls, in the first half. Carter opened by hitting four of his first five shots from 3, one deeper than another, for 13 points. His steal with less than a minute remaining in the half led to a Tory Jackson reverse lay-up, which tied it at 49 and sent the student section into a frenzy. Falls followed with 13 of his own, and looked for other ways to score than just hovering on the perimeter. He tallied eight points from the foul line after twice being fouled while shooting a 3. Alabama's efficiency on offense kept Notre Dame from the lead for the final 17;19 of the first period. The Irish would go on a little scoring spurt fueled by Falls and Carter, only to have the visitors answer with a few quick strikes of their own. Notre Dame crept within one with 6:30 to play only to have Gee hit a 3 then flush through a dunk off a lob as the Tide jumped to a five-point lead in 53 seconds. Mykal Riley scored a team-high 12 points in the period. Slowed recently by a sore knee, Steele added 10 as the Tide was able to take advantage of an Irish defense that may have tried too many times to keep the opposition guessing. Several times in the first half saw Notre Dame a step slow to close out on shooters while the Irish tried to decipher if they were in zone or man. The Irish added to the electricity of the night by unveiling new home uniforms trimmed in navy blue with no last names on the back.